Study Examines Relationship Between Liquor Stores and Shootings in Chicago

According to a recenty study, it might be wise to avoid liquor stores on the south and west sides of Chicago. Researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine studied the relationship between liquor store proximity and gunshot wounds in Chicago between 1999 and 2009 and learned that you are 500 times more likely to be shot near a liquor store on the city's South or West Sides.

As the Huffington Post notes, this study is the first examination of this relationship in neighborhoods as compared to an entire city. Lead investigator, Northwestern Memorial Hospital physician and Feinberg School of Medicine associate professor Marie Crandall, M.D. explained that "adding alcohol to an already volatile situation in a distressed community."

Of the 500 homicides in Chicago last year, a large portion occured on the city's south and west sides.